I have a question? My state fee is 10.00 a stamp. So we all know each stamp in a package is not taxed. So you accept say a equity closing at 90 bucks (I unaware of the size of one accepted a low ball at 60) and it has 10 notary stamps in all… so your now 10 minus in non taxed income, then add mileage… How can you report at the end of the year nothing??? In other words why are companies not being held to at least paying how many stamps at minimum for a closing in your state? I’ve had refis with upwards of 14 stamps, paying 100-125?
What state? My fees are all taxable. Obviously, I have expenses that will balance the income out, thus paying less taxes, but I’m not sure why you think you not each stamp is taxed. Is that on the state level? Because Federal taxes, I would assume (though you should refer to a tax professional) it’s taxable income, minus any associated expenses.
Your notary fees (the amount you can charge per your state law) is exempt from Self-Employment tax
We need to distinguish the differences between the Federal and your State’s tax code.
Federal IRC
Your Notarial fees, the actual fees charged to perform a Notarial action, is exempt from Self Employment Taxes. Notarial fees are taxable as earned income.
Mileage fees above the Federal deductions are taxable as earned income. You need to keep a mileage log. Be sure to include the trip to the shipping carrier as this is also deductible. You can only deduct one trip fee to the shipper regardless of the number of packages you dropped off.
Tertiary fees, above actual costs, are considered earned income an taxed accordingly. For example; witness fees, separate printing fees, wait time fees, etc… are taxable as earned income.
Your State’s Tax Code
This is where things start to get muddy. There are no State Level taxes that apply universally. There are nine States (1) that don’t have a State Income tax. Some States your Notary fees maybe taxable under Sales Tax and Use codex. You Notary income may or may not be taxable as earned income.
When it comes to State level taxes please seek the advice of a local Tax Professional before proceeding.
(1) Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
The Disclaimer: The comments above are for informational and educational purposes and does not establish a client/practitioner relationship. Due to the complexity of Tax Law you should seek the advice of a tax practitioner with specific knowledge regarding your State’s Tax Code. This is not a solicitation for services. (My Lawyer made me say this 
)
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I notice Alabama law says $10 per notarial act. It doesn’t say $10 per stamp. Suppose you have a couple who want you to take their acknowledgement for 5 documents, and both sign each document. They also want you to administer oaths in connection with 5 more documents, and they both sign and swear to each document. For each document, you fill out one certificate with two names and one stamp.
All together that’s 20 occasions where a person says to you “I acknowledge my signature” or “I swear the document is true”. It’s 20 signatures. It’s 10 stamps. Is it 20 notarial acts, or 10? Is the maximum fee $200, or $100. That’s something you should research.
I talked with my CPA today and totally confused when the amount of stamps per closing is entered into (I use notary gadget) versus the stamp fee here in AL going from 5.00 last year to 10 this year with my question… my fault. Although she said for the tax purposes yes it’s important and actually so important that though it’s not required in my state I add in my log each night exactly what was motorized as I think CA requires?
Why are you worried about what CA requires since you’re an Alabama notary?
I glanced at the Notary Gadget website. The general approach of the website is to claim they’ll take care of everything, without explaining (before you sign up) exactly what you would enter, and exactly how the calculations are done. If I were making income as a notary, I wouldn’t buy Notary Gadget because the website is mostly brag and only a little fact.
I’ve used it for 5 years, I think it’s a dream! I can add my lunch precisely much less an extra trip to FedEx or any expenses plus scan the receipt then never having to keep paper laying around. The two types of P&L st the end of the year are one clicks! I enjoyed their classes when Notary Stars invited them a while back! The best part added was the auto forward and easy quick adding to calendars…
I must contradict myself now as I’ve spoken with Tyler whom owns Closewise and I’ve decided to add them and learn a new all in one process plus onboarding at the same time… So my opinion might change after the end of the year haha
Happy Closings!
Oh and if you must know why I care about CA the first reason is I love to learn other states laws, because in my own log I might implement some things and second why not?
If you want to look at CA laws for ideas of things that would be good to put in your log, that seems fine to me. I’m not required to keep a log at all, but I do.
No journal required here in FL but I always put the full fee in my journal and did it this way to differentiate notary fee from "other* fee - full fee of $125 w/ 10 notarizations (we can charge $10/notarial act) so my entry would be 100/25; I also kept separate logs showing payor, job, full fee, notarizations fees, other fees total.
I was a paper person
I used to use the web-based version of Quickbooks, but I had doubts about whether it was worth figuring it out since I was only doing enough signings to keep me busy about half-time, and it was kind of hard to figure out. It also didn’t help you very much at the end of the year to transition to a new year.
As the signing agencies became more focused on lowering fees, the number of signings I was willing to take declined, and I switched to a Dome paper accounting book. It required more attention on a daily and weekly basis on my part to enter data and make sure I was getting paid, but it was easy to understand at the end of the year.
As business further declined due to higher interest rates, I decided the low fees just weren’t worth the hassle and expense of maintaining a business, so I stopped charging fees.
If the market were to change and I wanted to get started again, I doubt I would use Notary Gadget. All the videos online seem to be focused on using it to record information about a single signing. What about the end of the end of the month, when you want to review how your business is doing? What about the end of the year, when you want to do your taxes? Crickets.
Also, with Quickbooks, there was extensive online help from Intuit, and also lots of independent information online about how to use it. I don’t see any corresponding support from the community of users for Notary Gadget.
Notary Gadget as a notary journal was mentioned. My biggest reason for maintaining a journal is to protect myself in case I’m questioned about a notarial act I did, (or a forgery that I appeared to have done). A paper journal has a number of inherent security features that makes it hard to alter.
- It’s bound
- It’s pages are prenumbered
- Most of the entries are signed, so the entries before and after a questioned entry can be authenticated
- It can be shown to law enforcement and other authorities without compromising its security
A do-it-yourself solution like an Excel spreadsheet has no security features, so is much less credible than a paper journal.
An online service like Notary Gadget seems secure at first glance. After all, you have to log on with a password. But I don’t think many (any?) of these services promise to keep these records for the life of the notary, even after the notary stops paying for a subscription, and even after the notary gives up his/her commission. And no matter what they promise, the promises disappear when the company goes out of business. What then?
The notary can download the transactions, but from what I can glean without actually subscribing, the download is an unsigned PDF, which can be altered just as easily as a do-it-yourself spreadsheet, so is just as insecure. Suppose your records are still online? How can you show them to the authorities? Would you have to give your password to the authorities, thus destroying the security of your account? Showing authorities your journal does not destroy the security of the journal.
Finally, few notaries who use an electronic journal have their signers sign the journal with a stylus. Signing with a finger has little value in a journal. It’s really only useful when there’s sufficient other evidence to prove the interaction occurred, and the signature is just a formality.
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In answer to your question about the fees. You can only take credit for the number of fees that meet the amount you are paid for the job. In your example, your state’s notary fee is up to $10 a stamp. You have accepted a job for $90, and there are a total of 10 notarizations, which, according to the state’s maximum fee, would be $100. You can only take a $90. deduction for notary fees, because that’s all you were paid for the job.
You might do an inventory of all your clients and determine which clients pay what amount and how many large packages with lots of notarizaions that client gives you. Then adjust your fee for those clients or adjust your fees all around.
There is no exemption for state or federal taxes. You can only exempt self-employment tax.
To answer your question, it’s because Notaries don’t know how to properly price the fees for their services so they end up accepting offers that put them underwater.
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@reoqueenbee are you sure about this? I thought I’d read it only went to $15/notarization or signature - $25 for online notarizations.
Notary Public FAQs (state.co.us)
Q3. What fees can a notary legally charge?
A3. By Colorado law, the maximum fee allowed for a notarization is $15 per document and includes:
- Receiving evidence of the signer’s identity,
- Administering an oath or affirmation (if applicable), and
- Applying the signature, notarial certificate, and stamp of the notary to the document.
The maximum fee for an electronic notarization or remote notarization is $25.
If you charge for other services, you should itemize those separately.
Hi!
Do you have an opinion on CloseWise so far?